NHL: Knuble comes full circle with Flyers

The realities of high NHL finance once made Mike Knuble an ex-Flyer. By Friday, that same wave would wash him back.

With the Flyers having become desperate for a veteran scorer and noted dressing-room leader in a labor-troubled 48-game season once Scott Hartnell was injured, they would rescue the 40-year-old Knuble from the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL.

The veteran right-wing was with the Flyers Friday as they traveled to Florida, where they will play the Panthers Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. He had played with the Flyers from 2005 through 2009 before being squeezed in a salary-cap situation when the Capitals gave him a $2.8 million contract.

“This is the first time I have double-dipped on a team – coming back to a team that I played for before,” Knuble said. “This is a place that I feel very comfortable in. I know the rink and some of the people who work there. There are still a few guys left over from when I played here.

“It is a great organization and a place that I hated to leave. I said that at the time, but it was a salary-cap thing. This is just a great opportunity to come back and help.”

Knuble first played in the NHL for the 1996-1997 Red Wings, and has played for the Rangers, Bruins, Flyers and Caps. He has 274 goals in 1,040 NHL games, including six in 72 games last season with Washington. In each of his previous nine seasons, however, he scored at least 21 goals. He had 114 goals and 221 points in 340 games for the Flyers.

The Flyers were nudged into signing Knuble when they learned Thursday that Hartnell, an All-Star forward, would miss from four to eight weeks with a broken bone in his foot.

“The interesting thing is that I will be ready for anything,” Knuble said. “I am realistic. For a guy like me, I am a spot-filler. I will fill some holes at times and do whatever I am asked to do. I will play wherever they need me to play. I will be ready to move around. I will be ready for anything.”

In an effort to remain a viable NHL option, Knuble had joined the Griffins of the AHL, where he’d played one game. He signed a one-year contract with the Flyers.

“I think this year has been an adjustment for everybody,” he said. “So you adjust and move on to things in your own world. I stayed active in the American League with hopes that something would happen. Obviously, I was waiting to see what kind of season we would have, whether it would be 50 games, 60 games. They settled on 48. So everybody is adjusting this year. It is one of those years. Everyone has to adjust to what they can do.”

After a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers Thursday, Peter Laviolette was enthused about the acquisition of Knuble.

“You know, he’s a big, strong forward,” the Flyers’ coach said. “He’s a quality person in the locker room. He brings a lot of experience. I think that can be real helpful. Our group of forwards are young. We’re the youngest. To have a guy like that with his leadership and experience is important. The fact that he’s a big, strong player and has played a lot of games in the league can only help us.”

Knuble can help the Flyers with his front-of-the-net presence and scoring threat, but also in providing some of the leadership services that had been entrusted to Hartnell.

“I think that’s part of being a veteran guy,” Knuble said. “You want to talk to guys and be a good guy and act like an older, veteran player. Sometimes, it will be more, ‘Do as I say, not quite as I do.’ But I hope the staff can count on me to do the right things on and off the ice, to take care of myself, have fun with the guys and be a positive influence in the room.